You’re trying to search on Google but, nothing, the famous search engine doesn’t seem to work. The same goes when you try to access your inbox on Gmail or open your documents on Google Drive. However, when trying to visit other sites, the connection appears to be working.
What happen? Don’t despair: it is likely that the problems you are experiencing with Google are absolutely temporary and are not due to a malfunction of your device or your Internet connection. If you are wondering why Google isn’t working and would like to try to solve, or at least understand what is causing the problem, you are in the right place.
In this tutorial, in fact, I will help you understand what the problem could be and, if it is related to your devices or your connection, I will help you solve it. Happy reading and good luck with everything!
Index
- Why doesn’t Google work for me?
- How come Google Maps doesn’t work?
- How come Google Chrome doesn’t work?
- How come Google Play doesn’t work?
Why doesn’t Google work for me?
“Why doesn’t Google work for me?” . This is a question that all internet users have probably asked themselves at least once in their life, this is because everyone takes it for granted that Google always works. Unfortunately, however, like all other sites or online services, Google can also run into some problems related to its servers , and when this happens (very rarely) it can create a lot of problems, also because there are so many services related to the giant Mountain View: Gmail , YouTube , Google Drive , and the list goes on and on.
Before “blaming” Google’s servers, however, it is good to understand whether the origins of the problems encountered are really the latter and not some local problem, on the device or on the connection in use . Here, therefore, is a series of checks you can carry out to understand if the problem is Google’s servers (in that case users cannot do anything, it will be the responsibility of the Google team to try to resolve everything as quickly as possible) and it’s you”.
Check the status of the servers
If you are noticing that Google is not working, you can try using some tools that can check the server status of various online sites and services. One of the most famous is certainly Downdetector , a site capable of giving us a fairly precise overview of the functioning of practically every site or online service, among the most popular ones.
To check if Google or a service connected to it is not working due to server problems, simply go to the Downdetector website and type Google in the search bar at the top. On the next page, select the service whose server status you want to check, for example Google . The site will then tell you whether there are currently problems with the servers or not.
Furthermore, you can also take a look at the graph on the page to see if that particular service has encountered problems previously. Downdetector is based on the feedback left by users (hence also the “I have a problem with XXX” option , to report firsthand the inefficiencies that are being encountered), so if a site doesn’t work for many people, you can find out very easily.
How do you say? Do you prefer something easier to use? If you want to stay in the social sphere you can rely on Twitter , the famous social network for short messages which is often used by users to report problems accessing particularly popular services or websites.
If, for example, you’re noticing that Google isn’t working, you can try searching for hashtags like #googledown(most of the trending hashtags are in English) and see if other users are also reporting similar problems in the last few hours, around the world. As
Finally, I would like to point out the official Google pages which show the general status of the company’s cloud services (less intuitive than the social services mentioned above, but very useful) and the status of the services linked to Google Workspace . This way you can always be aware of the status of Google’s servers.
It goes without saying that in times when Google’s servers have problems, the cause of the malfunctions is not attributable to your devices or your connection, but to Google itself, so you can only wait for the situation to be put right.
Check your Internet connection
How do you say? from checking the server status everything seems OK but you still can’t access any Google service? In this case, you need to check the status of your Internet connection and, more specifically, check if there is no problem related to malware or the DNS servers used. Let’s go in order though.
If you are unable to navigate any site at all, you need to check whether the connection you are using is working . To do this, I recommend you take a look at my tutorial on how to solve when it is impossible to access the Internet , there you will find all the possible solutions to the problem.
If, however, the problems only concern access to some sites, including Google’s, you would do well to check your PC for malware . In fact, we often come across malicious software that alters the connection settings and/or those of the browsers by changing the default search engine and home page of the latter (in this case we talk about browser hijackers ).
To “flush out” and possibly eradicate these threats, you can use some practical free software for Windows and macOS (even if this type of threat is rarely present on the Apple platform) by following the instructions you find in my tutorial on how to remove malware . On smartphones and tablets, however, you can take a look at my tutorial on how to remove viruses from your mobile phone .
Finally, in less “dark” scenarios, the problem of accessing Google services (or other specific services) could be attributable to a malfunction of the DNS servers in use on the device. DNS servers , in case you didn’t know, are the ones that act as a “translator” and allow you to connect to Internet sites by typing simple to remember textual addresses (e.g. aranzulla.it) rather than very long numerical addresses, which would then be the real “coordinates” of the reference portals (the so-called IP addresses ).
To find out how to change the DNS on your PC, Mac or mobile device, read my guide dedicated to the topic: there you will find all the steps to follow to make this change.
Fix problems with your Google account
How do you say? Are you able to connect to Google but your problem is that you cannot access your account due to various errors? Don’t panic: I’ll now suggest some possible solutions that could allow you to restore access to your account.
The problem with your account is probably due to an error in typing your login information. If you no longer remember your password, you can perform a recovery procedure for your account by connecting to this page , typing your Gmail address , going ahead and following the on-screen instructions. If, however, what you don’t remember is your username (i.e. your Gmail address), you need to click on the
Don’t remember your email address? and follow the on-screen instructions in this case too.
For all the details on how to recover your Google account , read my tutorial dedicated to the topic, which explains everything down to the smallest detail.
Check for limitations and parental control apps
The last check I recommend you carry out, if you are still having problems accessing Google, is to check for the presence of limitations and parental control apps .
In fact, you should know that there are various tools capable of enabling Internet access restrictions on a given device. If you have enabled — or someone has enabled for you — such a block in the past, that’s likely the cause of your problems.
In this regard, I recommend reading my tutorials on how to limit access to the Internet , in which I explained how to adjust all the parental control settings related to the Internet connection on Windows PC and Mac, and how to activate parental control , where instead I dealt with the same topic in relation to smartphones and tablets.
Have you removed all possible restrictions, but it seems like some apps are still blocked? Don’t worry, it is likely that in the past you have placed an application access block on your smartphone or PC, so now you simply need to remove it. To find out how to do it, read my tutorial on how to remove app lock .
How come Google Maps doesn’t work?
How do you say? Do you need navigation but don’t understand why Google Maps doesn’t work ? As I explained above, the malfunction of Google Maps could always be linked to a network problem, attributable to your configuration or your provider, or to Google’s servers. For this reason, I advise you to carry out all the necessary checks first (i.e. those recommended in the previous chapters of this tutorial).
If even after having done all the checks recommended above you still have problems with Google Maps on your device, I recommend that you check that location services are active on your device, as they are absolutely necessary for the correct functioning of the Google maps service . If you don’t know how to activate localization on your device, consult my guide dedicated to the topic.
How come Google Chrome doesn’t work?
Do you use Google Chrome as your main browser but are having problems using it? Don’t worry, I’m here to help you. The causes of this malfunction could be multiple, which is why it is necessary to first understand why Google Chrome is not working .
If your problem concerns an inadvertent modification of the search engine and/or the browser home page , I recommend checking for the presence of malware, as explained above . Then I recommend you put the home page back and change your default search engine to Chrome by following my tutorials on the topic.
If, however, the browser has stability or connectivity problems and you cannot resolve them, you can restore Chrome and return the software to its factory state, in order to restore its correct functioning.
How come Google Play doesn’t work?
Are you having problems with the Google Play Store on your smartphone or tablet and can’t figure out why Google Play isn’t working ? The causes of this malfunction could be multiple, but nothing impossible to resolve.
The first advice I can give you, if you are having problems with Google Play, is to update the store. How do you say? Don’t know how to do it? No fear. Usually the Google Play Store updates completely automatically, but sometimes it may not do so. For this reason it is necessary to operate manually. To do everything correctly, I recommend you follow my tutorial on how to update the Play Store .
If you are still experiencing problems even after the update, it is likely that the cause is something else. If you are trying to download an app from Google Play but are unable to download it at all, it is likely that your system is completely blocked. For this reason, my advice is to restore the Google Play Store following the instructions in my guide on the topic.
If, however, your problem is that you can no longer find Google Play on your device, you can follow my tutorial on how to reactivate the Play Store to try to solve the problem.
